Far-right leader accused of ‘terror campaign’ against woman

By Matt Stevens

Published 1:16 pm, Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the publisher of a popular white supremacist website, claiming that he orchestrated a “terror campaign” against a Jewish woman in Montana.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the woman, Tanya Gersh, accuses the publisher of the Daily Stormer, Andrew Anglin, of unleashing a “troll storm” by publishing an article in December that listed Gersh’s contact information and exhorted readers to “take action” against her.

In the weeks and months that followed, the lawsuit contends, Anglin continued to publish pieces about Gersh. Along with her family, she received more than 700 harassing messages, including death threats, and a message on Twitter to her son suggesting that he pursue a free Xbox located inside an oven, the suit says.

Gersh said she is no longer working and attends trauma therapy twice a week.

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Anglin did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Tuesday’s 64-page complaint is the latest salvo in a story that has engulfed the small city of Whitefish, Mont., a town nestled in the northwestern part of the state that, until recently, was known mostly for its mountains and other stunning slices of nature.

Court documents say that since 2006, Sherry Spencer, the mother of Richard Spencer — a well-known leader of the self-described alt-right, a far-right fringe movement that embraces white nationalism — has maintained a vacation home in the town.

The Spencers bought a property in downtown Whitefish in 2013, according to the lawsuits.

In fall 2016, Gersh, who worked in real estate at the time, heard rumors of a possible protest in connection with the downtown building. Spencer, who worried about how to handle the situation, initially asked Gersh to help her sell the property before later reconsidering.

The pair stopped communicating in early December, and by the middle of the month, “Ms. Spencer published a blog post on the website Medium in which she accused Ms. Gersh of threatening and harassing her into agreeing to sell the Lupfer Avenue property,” according to the lawsuit.

Anglin, whom the law center describes in its filing as “a well-known neo-Nazi operating out of Ohio,” then published the first in a series of articles attacking Gersh.